(CNSNews.com)
– Describing Iran as a country with an “elected” government and a
“remarkable history,” Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday
reiterated President Obama’s willingness to hold bilateral talks with
the regime.

“It’s a matter of public record that he personally communicated to
the supreme leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] that he was prepared to
engage and to discuss these issues,” Kerry told a news conference with
his French counterpart in Paris.

Responding to a reporter’s question about negotiating with a
“terrorist” regime, Kerry pointed out that “Iran is a country with a
government that was elected and that sits in the United Nations.”

“And it is important for us to deal with nation-states in a way that
acts in the best interests of all of us in the world,” he added, drawing
a parallel with President Reagan’s willingness to sit down with Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Nixon’s decision to engage with
China.